Little things are great to Little Men

It is a fact that “the great would not think themselves demigods if the little did not worship them.” Greatness is gained by comparison and when analysed it comes to a greater range and extent than hen looked at by itself Greatness is a relative term. Very’ few are great because of originality. Distinction very often comes through contrast. A man of ordinary stature would be a ±distinguished figure in the land of piggies. A man getting a salary of Rs. 10.000 a month would be considered a rich man among the labourers who live from hand to mouth. A village school master who has only got though his Matriculation would be looked upon as a prodigy of learning by the simple minded rustics.

So the value of greatness depends on our sense of proportion. Little men have a narrow outlook on life. Their ideas are derived from their immediate surroundings and they have not the poker of visualization. They cannot look far ahead, nor have they the faculty of observing things in their right perspective. The result is that their judgement is incorrect and they are not able to discriminate between the great things and little things. Great things ‘id fill their minds with superstitious have, while the little things would loom large in their eyes. There are so many little men’s great men in this who possess no inherent worth, but who pose themselves as great: before the little men. The servant to a Deputy’ Commissioner is a great men in the eyes of the villagers. A pocket gramophone or a travelling cinema ‘.would he a wonder of the world: them. This is all due to their narrow and distorted vision.

But this narrow outlook of little men has an advantage also. They have very few ambitions and those too are easily fulfilled. Their desires do not extend to unattainable or valuable things. They are satisfied with little things and lead a contented life. Moreover, the pleasure they desire from little things is greater than what the great men get from great things, because they can never reach the goal of their ambitions. They aim at the moon and only hit at the mountain.  Generally, greatness is an illusion. The minute a great man is taken out of the atmosphere be is living in or the position he is occupying, he becomes shorn of his greatness. “When greatness descends from its lofty pedestal, it assumes human dimensions.”